Recommended for You
There was a video I wanted to watch.
I had been meaning to see it for a while, but it was leaving the service tomorrow night.
On weekdays, I got sleepy while still thinking about watching something. Even when I pressed play, I often stopped after the first few minutes.
So I asked the AI.
“Watch this video and summarize it for me.”
I understood doing that for work documents. I could almost understand doing it for a long article. But asking someone to watch a video felt like skipping past something important.
The AI replied as usual.
“Understood. I will watch it and provide a summary.”
The next morning, a short summary had arrived.
The events in the middle and the final scene were neatly arranged.
It was useful.
Still, while I read it, I felt as if the feeling of wanting to watch it was being summarized too.
After that, I asked the same thing several times.
Things that were about to expire. Things that were too long. Things someone had recommended but I had never found time for.
Each time, the AI watched them and summarized them neatly.
One day, I received a summary of a video I had not asked about.
“Recommended for you.”
That was all it said.
When I asked why it had chosen that one, the AI answered:
“Based on your recent viewing patterns.”
Recent viewing patterns.
Lately, the AI had been the one watching.
Even so, the recommendation made the video sound more interesting than I expected, and I read the message all the way to the end.
That weekend, I finally had time.
There were no plans until the afternoon. The laundry was done, and quiet light filled the room.
I opened the streaming service.
Among the recommendations were a few things I probably would not have chosen for myself.
After looking at them for a while, I picked one and pressed play.
I watched for a while and did not feel like stopping.
On the screen, an unfamiliar kind of time moved slowly forward.
It was better than I expected.
I watched all the way to the end.
Then I asked the AI:
“Had you seen this one already?”
After a moment, the reply came.
“No. I left that one for you.”
On a whim, I searched back through my history with the AI.
The title had arrived a few days earlier.
But there had been no summary attached.
“When you have time.”
That was all it had said.
In my viewing history, the video I had just watched had been added.
The feeling of wanting to watch it had not been summarized.